Trump calls Biden 'bad Palestinian' in 'racist' slur during first US presidential debate

Former President Donald Trump has accused Joe Biden of being a "bad Palestinian" during the first presidential debate of the upcoming US election, triggering outrage and accusations of racism.

The bizarre comment occurred during a foreign policy segment of the 90-minute debate, hosted by CNN on Thursday.

After being asked about how his administration would end the war, Biden reiterated the three-step-plan he set out last month to attain a ceasefire and accused Hamas of being "the only ones who want the war to continue".

Trump responded by advocating for Israel to continue its war, saying "actually, Israel is the one, and you should let them go and let them finish the job".

"He doesn't want to do it. He's become like a Palestinian, but they don't like him because he's a very bad Palestinian. He's a weak one," he added.

Earlier in June, Trump said Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer was "like a Palestinian" in a critique of the Democratic politician's own criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March.

Biden responded to the comment saying he'd "never heard so much foolishness".

Biden's proposed ceasefire, announced on the 31 May, has seen an opaque response from Israel, with Netanyahu saying that its war on Gaza would not end and would only agree to a partial ceasefire deal in exchange for the release of the remaining 116 Israelis held hostage in Gaza.

Hamas has sought guarantees that the ceasefire would see a permanent end to the war in Gaza, which has seen Israel kill 37,765 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Trump's comments sparked fierce reaction online, with journalist Mehdi Hassan arguing the comments show that "brazen anti-Palestinian racism has been normalized in America".

Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd noted that "'Palestinian' was used as a slur against the person funding and enabling the genocide of the Palestinian people… ok".

The Director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) Chris Doyle commented that "Palestinians just see two candidates who are stunningly comfortable in facilitating their genocide."

Biden reaffirmed his administration's staunch commitment to Israel in the debate, saying it is "the biggest producer of support for Israel of anyone in the world", and defended his delay of sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.

He also highlighted US efforts to stop Iran's missile and drone strikes on Israel in April, going as far to claim that "we saved Israel".

For his part, when asked about whether he would recognise an independent Palestinian state, Trump answered that he'd "have to see".

The debate saw the candidates exchange fire over a host of other policy issues, including immigration, abortion, and the war in Ukraine.

Biden's mediocre overall performance in the debate sent many people in the Democratic Party running into a panic over whether to replace the 81-year-old president as their party's candidate ahead of the November election.